Windows 8 is here, and while it’s not universally beloved, it does appear to be bringing a lot of cash into Microsoft's coffers. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced today at the company's BUILD conference that Microsoft has sold 4 million Windows 8 upgrades to consumers since the operating system went on sale Friday.

“The level of embrace from enthusiasts, from people who want to get out there, is very, very high,” Ballmer said today.

Ballmer said yesterday that Windows 8 is selling faster than Windows 7. Of course, this is based on just a few days, and Microsoft is offering better-than-usual upgrade pricing this time around. Upgrades from previous versions of Windows to Windows 8 Pro cost only $39.99 for a downloadable copy (or $69.99 for a boxed DVD) until January 31, 2013. Additionally, people who bought Windows 7 PCs since June 2 can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $14.99. By contrast, Windows 7 promotional pricing in 2009 was $49 for an upgrade to Home Premium and $99 for an upgrade to Professional.

Ballmer also had a big number to report on sales to business customers, apparently referring to volume licensing and Software Assurance subscription sales. “We have sold tens of millions of units to our corporate customers, who can upgrade when they want to, but have no time pressure to do that any time soon,” Ballmer said. Those who bought Windows 8 consumer upgrade licenses are also not obligated to install the new bits right away.

Microsoft had some good news on the app front today, too. The Windows Store—the app store for Windows 8—is sparse so far, but Microsoft said applications from the likes of Twitter, Dropbox, and ESPN are on the way. Additionally, PayPal will integrate with Windows Store apps.

Recent big-name additions to the Windows Store include Skype, Netflix, and Angry Birds Space. But there are still notable missing names, such as Facebook. The Windows Store had more than 9,000 applications available at retail launch.

93 Reader Comments

That sounds like a lot but how many of these are those discounted upgrades that come with computers people bought already? How many are dictated by company policies and not a result of individual consumers opting to upgrade? How many of these are copies of the upgrade being sold to retailers rather than to end users? There's no real detail here.

Most people I know don't know about Windows 8, and those that do are avoiding it.

Personally, I tend to be an early adopter, I signed up for Windows 7 early beta and ran it consistently through release and have been quite happy with it. But I'm not going to upgrade to Windows 8 unless something drastic changes about it. It does nothing to make using my PC easier or better, and only annoys me.

I got Windows 8. I should mention there's no need for a Twitter app, and little for a Facebook app - the web interfaces for both work fine, and Windows 8's people hub lets you see notifications, status updates and post updates.

That sounds like a lot but how many of these are those discounted upgrades that come with computers people bought already? How many are dictated by company policies and not a result of individual consumers opting to upgrade? How many of these are copies of the upgrade being sold to retailers rather than to end users? There's no real detail here.

Irrelevant. As an app developer I only care about how many Windows 8 installs are out there not how they convinced them to upgrade.

No matter how you look at it, 4 million upgrades is 4 million which is a nice sum. And 9000 apps in the Windows Store is a pretty good number considering everyone else's app stores when they were first launched.

How many are dictated by company policies and not a result of individual consumers opting to upgrade?

In any sane and rational world, none. What company is going to adopt Windows ANYTHING the day/weekend it comes out? Any Windows 8 purchases due to company policy within the first few days is probably from a really small business. With one computer. Maybe two. The retrain issue is a serious hurdle to companies actually adopting it, assuming their IT departments don't just burn down the building when the order comes down from on high to migrate to Windows 8.

Microsoft’s has an installed base of 1.25 billion users. According to Ballmer’s own numbers, 4 million upgraded to Windows 8 in the first four days. That means that one-third of one percent of Microsoft’s user base upgraded.

It's almost a no-brainer: if you have Windows 7 Home Premium or lower, it's cheaper to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro than Windows 7 Pro. Metro is kind of interesting but if you don't like it you don't even have to use it. Just install Classic Shell or Start8, which allows direct boot to desktop with a start button.

Customers aren't exactly lining up for blocks around Circuit City to get this one. It's worth picking up a $40 full (not upgrade) license at Staples to throw onto a frankenbox, but let's not count that as a stunning validation that their suggested $199.99 is a better use of my money than eating for a month.

Microsoft offered cheap upgrades ($40 I believe), and enterprise customers can always buy new versions with the ability to downgrade and run 7. Pair that with new tablet hardware that people are eager to get, and I think it is fair to say that Microsoft is a legit tablet competitor today, but that doesn't mean there is consumer demand for 8 on the whole.

Vista also claimed sales records because people were buying Vista licenses in the enterprise market to run XP. Microsoft likes to spin BS and pretend it is gold.

Customers aren't exactly lining up for blocks around Circuit City to get this one. It's worth picking up a $40 full (not upgrade) license at Staples to throw onto a frankenbox, but let's not count that as a stunning validation that their suggested $199.99 is a better use of my money than eating for a month.

I got Windows 8. I should mention there's no need for a Twitter app, and little for a Facebook app - the web interfaces for both work fine, and Windows 8's people hub lets you see notifications, status updates and post updates.

I have Windows 8 installed, too.

There is need, albeit less need. It's nice being able to dock an app to the side of the desktop for my Twitter timeline (I use Rowi right now). Maybe once a decent Facebook app comes about I'll find myself using the website less, for certain things. I still use my phone for most Twitter and Facebook perusal, however.

Pricing has to be driving sales considerably. $15 for an upgrade is pretty much an impulse buy. Even if you don't qualify for that, you can go to Microcenter and pay $39 and leave with a disc in hand. Definitely not the Windows upgrade prices of old.

I don't believe the "record" number of initial W8 sales is a positive indicator of its future prospects. Of course out of a billion computers running Windows, there's going to be a few million Windows fans who want to be the first to upgrade.

Also, there are a LOT of folks like me who think W8 is a mess on the desktop, but bought a copy for professional reasons to have for testing, etc.

That's not to say it won't eventually sell a gazillion copies through OEM channels... but I'll be quite surprised if folks continue to "upgrade" in droves.

You only need to state that you purchased a PC in the specified time frame. A receipt, serial number, or any other proof of purchase is not necessary. Information is not verified, you are simply emailed a promo key that you use to knock the upgrade cost from $40 down to $15.

Customers aren't exactly lining up for blocks around Circuit City to get this one. It's worth picking up a $40 full (not upgrade) license at Staples to throw onto a frankenbox, but let's not count that as a stunning validation that their suggested $199.99 is a better use of my money than eating for a month.

It's almost a no-brainer: if you have Windows 7 Home Premium or lower, it's cheaper to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro than Windows 7 Pro. Metro is kind of interesting but if you don't like it you don't even have to use it. Just install Classic Shell or Start8, which allows direct boot to desktop with a start button.

I remember reading earlier that you would be able to buy this upgrade but use the license to install Windows 7 instead.

What I'm curious to see is how many of us htpc nerds cash in on the free WMC offer. I already received mine and installed it. Even at 10 bucks it's a good deal. Maybe they'll actually see the light and support it. Then again I doubt it.

Might get it at the cheap price and wait till SP1. Or a different reason to up from 7.

Why would facebook bother with an Metro app? Leaving the browser open at your facebook page is the same thing and has more options. Unless its to integrate with the new Metro page and have a Live Tile(widget) to show new message notifactions, news feeds and the like. I guess the same goes for Netflix and any other current browser based application. I guess once try Windows 8 more than an hour test I might understand it better.

"Only" 9000 apps on the Windows Store? How long will it take to actually use all of those apps? Sure, Facebook might be "missing", but that's what IE or Chrome is for. The Windows Store is, for all intents and purposes, a brand-new offering for an operating system released less than a week ago. It's not like everyone on the planet with any aptitude for coding programs immediately knows the nuances of every OS on launch day. It takes time to develop these things.